Car-seal



(No Model.)

L. A. FOOTE.

, GAR SEAL.

No. 408,474. Patented Aug. 6, 1889.

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UNITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

LEWVIS A. FOOTE, OF LANSING, MINNESOTA.

CAR-SEAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,474, dated August 6, 1889.

Serial No. 304,532. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEWIS A. FOOTE, of Lansing, in the county of Mower, and in the State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seals for Use on Railroad-Cars and Analogous Pur poses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof. 1

My invention relates to seals for use on railroad-cars and analogous purposes; and it consists in certainpeculiarities of construction, as will be fully set forth hereinafter, and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan View of my improved sealing-disk. Fig. 2 is avertical longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of my sealing-rivet. Fig. i is a vertical longitudinal section of my sealing-disk with one end of the shackle fastened therein and shown in section. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of my device after sealing. Fig. 6 is a plan View, partially broken, of my disk and shackle with one end secured to the former in a different manner from that illustrated in Fig. '4. Fig. 7 is an end view, and Fig. 8 a vertical longitudinal section showing one end of the shackle secured to the disk in the manner illustrated in Fig. 6.

My present invention is in part an improvement on that patented to me October 6, 1885, No. 327,783, and for an identical purpose, my seals being primarily designed for railroadcars, but being equally well adapted for the sealing of boxes, trunks, packages, and other articles.

A is the shackle, preferably made of thin sheet metalsueh as tin-and which maybe provided with a hole a at either or both ends.

B is the sealing-disk, and is preferably made of hard Babbitt metal, though it may be of soft metal or any other suitable substance. This disk is cast with a rear projecting neck 1'), and the whole is practically in two parts-top and bottom-united by small portions, of the metal 0 d (l at the rear and sides, forming a longitudinal recess or orifice O O, the part 0 between the side portions (Z (Z being just wide enough to receive the shackle A, which extends back as far as the portion 0 at the end of the'part C of the recess in the neck b. The disk-head is further provided with central holes or eyes 6 e in its upper and lower faces for the reception of the sealing-rivet D.

In Fig. 4 I show my sealing-disk and shackle attached together and ready for use, and in Fig. 6 I show the same parts differently united. In Fig. 4 the end of the shackle A which enters the orifice of the disk is not perforated prior to insertion, but when in place a pointed punch is pressed against the shackle through the upper eye 6 of the disk, which carries burrs ff into the opposite eye 6 of said disk, thereby securing the shackle in place, and the device is ready for shipment and use. If desired, the other end of the shackle may also be left solid, (instead of being perforated, as shown at a in Fig. 4,) and then when the shackle has been passed through or around the object to be sealed the said free end is slipped into the orifice in the disk on top of the secured portion, and the pointed punch put through from the under side and pressed against the last adjusted end of the shackle, which forces similar burrs therefrom into the upper eye 6, just as was previously done. Ordinarily, however, I punch a hole a, as shown in Fig. 4, in the free end of the shackle, at such a distance from the said end as to just register with the eyes 6 of the disk when in place, as when this is done the pointed punch need not be used in sealing. In either case, however, when the shackle has been adjusted, the sealing-rivet D is slipped through the eyes of the disk and the small end 9 of the rivet upset by a handpress. This rivet D may be of any suitable material-such as hard or soft metal, but preferably of hard Babbitt metal-and the press may have any desired letter, figure, character, or other check-mark thereon or therein, so that the same may show on one end or both ends of the rivet when upset, as indicated by the figure 8, for instance, in Fig. 5.

In Fig. 6 I show a shackle in which the perforated endis first inserted in the orifice in the disk B, and in this case, of course, there is no metal to punch burrs from in line with the disk-eyes, and so instead the ends of the shackle are turned up or down on each side the device is ready for shipment and use, as before. In Fig. 6 I show the free end of the shackle unperforated; but it will be understood that I make my shackles with either or both ends perforated, or with neither end perforated, as desired, and that I may unite the shackle and disk together by both the described burrs and turned ends for greater security, if desired, in any instance.

WVhile, as stated, I prefer hard Babbitt metal for both disk and rivet, I do not limit myself thereto, and may make either or both of any suitable material, metallic or otherwisesuch as fiber pressed or Vulcanized, wood, glass, porcelain, or burnt clay, rubber, gutta-percha, &c.and while I would ordinarily use strips of tin for the shackle the same may be of leather, paper, fabric, or any other preferred substance. This shackle is usually marked with letters, figures, or characters to indicate the name of the railroad company or of the shipper or owner of the goods, or other marks, (according to the use to which my seals are to be put,) and the rear stop 0 of the disk prevents the free end of the shackle from going too far, and thus avoids concealing or covering up any part of the said mark or inscription.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

less width than that of the shackle-orifice in the main part of said disk, and the said main part having opposing transverse openings, in combination with a shackle secured at one end to said disk, substantially as set forth.

2. A sealing-disk provided with a central longitudinal orifice and opposing transverse openings, in combination with a shackle, one end of which is inserted in said orifice and secured to said disk, and a sealing-rivet, substantially as set forth.

3. A sealing-disk provided with a central longitudinal orifice and opposing transverse openings, in combination with a shackle inserted in said orifice and having openings near its ends registering with said transverse openings in the disk, and a sealing-rivet, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Lansing, in the county of Mower and State of Minnesota, in the presence of two witnesses.

LEWIS A. FOOTE.

\Vitnesses:

F. W. KIMBALL, S. SWENINGSEN. 

